Project 10^100 for Google

To those who made it possible

In dreams...

I need to take the time out to thank all of the people who helped me reach my dreams of going to Mozambique and be able to actually formulate and process thorough research. Without so many people, so many blessings, I would never have made it to Moz.

To Pastor Joao, Maria, Paulo and Joao Jr. Coreano. Without your huge amount of support and time spent with me in my day to day collection of research, I would have never been able to get around. You helped me with words, travel--everything. Thank you and I cannot wait for our reuniting to start health class!

To Adrienne Jamieson and Stanford University who put $2500 to my research and travel endeavors whilst I was in S.Africa and Mozambique. The dedication to allowing students to pursue their interests and research around the world is incredible and has transformed my thinking and future goal. Without your help, I literally could not have made it to Mozambique.

To the International Rescue Committee and the amazing opportunities I was gained access to because of my internship with them. The foundation in international health policy allowed me to ask the questions I needed to ask and to find the right people to talk to to get answers. Without their support and amazing work, I would have never been able to refine and formulate the research.

To my parents and brothers for believing in all of the crazy things I do. I can't believe you support me in romping around the world, seeking an adventure. Because of your unconditional love and support I feel safe and sound wherever I am. I am so blessed to have a family like you who will allow me to pursue anything and everything that gets conjured in this mind of mine.

Above all, to God. (I sound like I'm winning an Oscar or Grammy..haha) He's the reason I get to do any and all of this. He orchestrated my entire trip and blessed the whole way. Clearly, I would never have been able to manufacture the incredible access I had to human resources and otherwise. What was I doing in Mozambique to begin with? Well, it was definitely Divine Inspiration and Orchistration, because I could never have dreamed that up.

As I prepare for the next 10 months for my return to Mozambique, I ask that you continue to keep me in your thoughts and pray for Africa. There is so much that can be done. Please take the time out to remember what's going on outside of your comfort zones and seek it out if you can. Thank you for sharing this time with me and I'll keep you all informed of my academic progress for the year as to how the preparation is going.

Beijos!!!

Deep Breath - there is so much more to Mozambique than struggle

This is why I'm here.

You know, I was thinking about it, and I haven't said how dang incredible this place is. The people are so friendly and incredibly cordial. The food is delicious. More seafood than I could have asked or imagined. Last night I ate a crab the size of a small dog. Never before have I had to crack a shell that was more like a bone--you can measure the shell thickness in millimeters, for goodness sake. The
feel is that you're in a place that not many people outside of here have experienced. As I was going through the villages, I was giddy seeing history. It was painted with bustling people going to purchase their locally grown vegetables. The markets sat below a roof of a mixed group of grocery bags and straw--all held up by dried pieces of wood. The experience is truly organic. Imagine visiting a place that you feel that an outside lens is seeing for the first time. Everywhere I went, I am truly foreign. You have no idea how amazing that feels. This land is theirs, their lives are theirs. They live amongst their own and have truly lived out their own lives. They do it all--almost completely void of American or Western influence. ahhh. so awesome. There are so many thoughts that I carry with me and take up every moment to tell my billions of stories. The experience that I had in Mozambique will never leave me. The amount of information that I have to share has quadrupled as I process more and more of the things that I've learned and experienced. I want to shout it from the rooftops and explain to everyone what I have within my head. SO,

I feel as if this is probably the best way to express some of the problems, collectively that I have seen here. Here is a series of conversations that talks about the problems that have been recorded. Thoughts together, and the dialogue begins. Here is what I aspire to continue to do from here on out until my thesis is written and everything comes together.

K: holy [expletive deleted] those kids are flipping out

6:18 AM me: i know!

hahah

they were so psyched

and i was just standing there w/ my camera

6:19 AM i was doing absolutely nothing but walking around there w/ the camera

6:21 AM i havent seen it yet, though

not since that day

i mean.. when i recorded it

and i cant stream videos here

internet's too bad

6:22 AM K: haha... they're definitely on the point of rioting

no idea what you did to elicit that respons

e

me: hahah

they just crave attention like no other

they sit in classrooms of at least 150 kids

6:23 AM and they are never individualized

they crave so much attention

each one of them just wants you to know their name

it's crazy

K: wow... what an awful existence

6:24 AM me: i dont know

i dont know, often what i'm doing here

but for some reason i need to be here

it's so overwhelming

no running water

5 doctors for 675000

no money

no education

no english

6:25 AM but they have the beach :)

and they have a warm climate :)

and really really really great coffee and cheap drinks :)

i have to focus on the good...but damn

the only commerce their is, is cocacola, cell phones

6:26 AM and then whatever restaurant is open

...and this is in the city!

craziness...but yeah...the rural areas are a whole 'nuther world

K: honestly i can't imagine

6:27 AM i've seen my share of sprawling, wrenching urban poverty, but never been outside of major cities

…FROM A CONVERSATION W/ “C”, talking about the problems with building up a common good,

Me: tellin her [my mom] about africa

and how the communist mentality here is really sad

b/c no one works together

esp ppl in positions of power

they're only out for themselves

it's sad

really sad

the local level are the only way this place is gonna change

C: power corrupts

me: to raise up ppl untainted

from the wicked powers that be

C: interesting

dang you sound like che

me: friggin communism did the exact opposite w/ the mentality than it was trying to aid

C: revolucion!

me: does that sound like che?

communism messed up the idea of the common good for everyone

no everyone in power is more individualistic than ever

it's the exact opposite of what they wanted

C: communism could never work because of the corrution of man

its a good idea in theory

me: but now it's left this country in such a terrible position

no one's willing to help anyone w/o some sort of payment

it sucks

they all expect something from you

whether it be money, food, power

it's crappy

there's no common good

C: so how do propose a change?

me: rise up the chitlins

teach them to work together

to help themselves

not wait for a handout

they also have a huge reliance upon aid

it sucks

C: so thats why you want to do like that education ministry. that makes sense

that would be awesome

me: precisely

but i had no idea that would be the solution

i was just tryin to meet a need w/in a small community

i never knew about this sort of mentality

for instance

today

we went to the university to find a local professor for me to connect to

just in case i need a local contact if i get the fulbright

someone to express interest in my research project and to say that maybe if i needed it, i could use their library or something

or ask them questions

anyways,

i met the head of the community health dept

and he was like, to the effect of, 'that's all good and great, but what are you doing to help me'

and the whole point is to build a community health education

just for the people

and he was like, 'you need my help, so what will you give me?'

C: wow

me: and he's an educator!

totally crazy

C: like direct quote?

me: pastor joao tried to explain this to me

it's a war mentality

they all think this way

esp ppl in positions of power

it's just the way it is... it's the culture

C: that is sad

me: they all expect something

they dont just help you to help you

even the govt official we were with earlier on traveling in matola

C: no sense of an inate good?

me: we fed him and gave him $

C: wow

me: or else he wouldnt have continued to help us

there would have been no reason, in his mind to help us

that's typical

C: and what was he doing to help you?

me: there's no common good

i'm sure the innate goods are there

but they dont see how helping the whole community will, in turn, help them

very few ppl think in that way

they want immediate results or are trying to get a handout

another story:

sorry: he was taking us around to the other govt offices

and getting us into the offices of other important govt officials who knew him

it's totally about who you know and who has power

if you have power you can get around here

if not, you need money

and if you have neither, you're done.

another story:

i guess around the time the war ended

there were a lot more foreigners entering this country trying to help the people recover

anyways, i guess there was this group of italian dudes that raised enough money

the equivalent of like millions of dollars

to fix the road system

anyways, by the time they were prepared to do the roads and had prepared everything from italy

they got to mozambique

and they got nickeled and dimed and hassled so much that they finally couldnt put the project on

and they met so much opposition to the project

and everyone wanted a handout b/c they knew they had money or whatever

that finally they had to leave

C: they had to pay off all the officials?

thats crazy

me: no one saw that putting a road up would help everyone

and that it was absolutely necessary

to fix that first

and they ended up having to leave

the reason why one of the missionaries here met them

C: so are their roads really bad?

me: is b/c they flagged them down from the side of the road

an area they had all volunteered to live on

b/c they wanted to help

and they were just spending the money on buying passers-by café mochas

and such

b/c they didnt want the money to go to corrupt govt officials

crazy, right!??!

anyways, yeah, aside from the main highways and inner-city roads in maputo, the roads suck

major potholes and such

C: so is hard for a missionary to stay there because of the corruption

me: i mean, it's just discouraging

b/c you wonder what really changes

b/c everyone's been here trying to help for so long

C: so is hard for a missionary to stay there because of the corruption

me: i mean.. missionaries arent really working w/ all of the corruption

most missionaries are working w/ the people

or trying to

i mean, that's the point

not to really work w/ the corrupt officials, i suppose

it's the foreign govts that talk to them the most

they have the money, remember?

hahah

C: they never get exploited for church earnings or anything?

me: not that i know of

i mean most of these dudes arent at the local leve

l

even the govt officials at the local level are really poor

their buildings are falling apart

their kids are still sick

they still have to live w/ the crappy hospitals

and lack of doctors

so i mean.. when we say corrupt... i mean.

it's a slippery slope

you wonder if their 'power' is somewhat of a thing that has been earned

like the guy we worked with

it was just understood that we would pay him afterward

that's his job

to take ppl like us around

C: almost a mob mind set

me: he provides us a service

and gets paid for it

C: mafia mindset rather

me: but the idea of it being a government, or common good

is not the thought process

it's not a collective uplifting process

yeah i mean, my mafia lessons have come from casino, scarface, the godfather and goodfellas

C: haha put lightly

me: so if it's that way.. i mean

C: do we have an embassy there?

me: yeah but that's another crappy story

so yeah we have an embassy

and the US govt basically controls 70% or more of all of the money that comes into this country

basically because it's all aid money

the government has nothing

so 70% of the ENTIRE country's economy

that's 'growing'

the US controls

craziness

anyways so yeah, we have an embassy

and like 90% of the money coming is from us

anyways

so there is a charge d'affairs

and he is the acting 'ambassador'

there is no one in line to be the ambassador

so basically no one makes decisions for this country

basically the charge d'affairs tries to delegate all of the decision making to all of the parties that are looking to him for answers

basically w/o an ambassador, they cannot do anything

and there is likely to be no ambassador until the new administration is in

b/c they have to be approved by congress or something really ridiculous that has nothing to do w/ the needs here

anyways, the workers here, like for USAID are friggin pissed off b/c they can't get anything done and practically all of them disagree w/ the charge d'affairs

and his incapacity to make decisions.

not to mention that their budget for 'health'

C: but he is still getting money right

me: which is what i was most interested is around $90mil

C: aid money i mean

me: yeah, everyone gets paid

so the health budget is $90m

"health"

yet the HIV/AIDS budget is $220mil

C: and what does that money go to

me: explain to me how that works?

so there's this lopsided spending

that the US govt imposes on the health system in this country

to do its bidding in 'eradicating aids' by 2015 or whatever

however the hospitals here have no running water, no medical supplies, no doctors, no ambulances, no medications, no tools, no trained ppl, not enough educated people, etc etc etc

so when they only have $90mil that they must spend on "health"

and $220mil on HIV/AIDS

it gets extremely fishy

b/c all of a sudden you train like everyone to treat HIV

and there's no lines for that

and anyone that's HIV+ can go right into hospitals

and have like 10ppl waiting on them

but i have malaria or cholera and i have to wait 5hours to see a doctor or nurse or even get a bed

C: i see

me: then ppl are going to get pissed

C: and you could die by then

ok

me: and wonder who has to infect them with aids for them to get some damn service

C: you made it make sense now

me: yeah.

C: it's kind of like get your priorities rigth

me: so there is absolutely no capacity for a program like hiv/aids who has a ton of money

but the rest of it cannot be uplifted with it

and we're trying to 'eradicate aids'

but we cant even get them a sanitation program

or teachers

or doctors

or running water?!??

i mean.. c'mon

i just wonder what the hell they've been doing all this time

w/ their millions upon millions of dollars

i was sitting in a conference room telling a USAID worker about the problems in Matola

he had no idea they had no running water after 11am

in the HOSPITALS

in the GOVT BUILDINGS

that there was ZERO sanitation program

i was sitting there telling him they had 6 doctors for 675,000 people

he had no idea

he had no idea it was that bad

C: oh my gosh

me: I'M TELLING HIM, the AID WORKER

C: wow

thats seriously insane

me: yeah... it's seriously devastating

C: all bet

me: you wonder what the heck is happening

what we're doing with ourselves

as i sit here

typing...

and yet, they're happy

sigh

there's literally no water, C

no running water

you wanna know how it works?

there are people that make a business out of it.

C: it's so hard to imagine that

me: they go to the pipes that do have running water

C: pumps?

me: and they bring several large bottles

and they fill them all up

they usurp the water supply

and they sell the water

the people dont know if the water's good

it could be cholera-infested

C: wow

me: it could be unpotable, but it's all they've got

they have no choice but to buy it

C: and drink it

me: and they walk countless kilometers to get to it

C: and wash with it

me: exactly

C: isn't so hard to imagine no running water

we're so spoiled

what do we complain about…

Conversation #3 – In regards to Witch Doctors and Magic

me: oh yeah, i meant to tell you about sunday!

so we had church and such

and it was really great

so then afterward

we got together w/ all of the church leaders

and had a huge lunch

(i had to eat some sort of beefy tripe/insides)

anyways

so yeah after that they were going to do some more church building stuff

and before they left for that, the church leaders came up to pastor joao to ask him what they should do w/ the things they collected through the week

and i was like, 'what kind of things'

?

anyways, turns out the church members had brought some of their old relics that the witch doctors had given them for certain spells and such

so like there before me was like this huge pickle sized jar

filled w/ brown alcohol

and dead snakes

it was soooo creepy

as well as other jars filled with beans and other weird black stuff as well as some other random bottles and such

so they prayed and burned it all to get rid of the evil magic or whatever

Chris: wow

me: and i was like, 'wow...there is absolutely no way i can comprehend this'

I WILL RETURN TO MOZAMBIQUE. ahhhhh! Can't wait!

witchcraftery. we find dead snakes in a jar--a means of using some 'magic spells' witchcraft. There's no real way to try to comprehend another world--another belief in this form of living and protecting one's self. This is Africa.

Cholera threatens.

As I prepare for sleep the soft rain should gently rock me into my first visions-divine.
Yet, in this night, rain brings fear, for the water is what gives life, the water is what threatens, the water is what revives back.
Purity.
If not in the physical, give time to the cerebral things that one with cholera cannot control--their own fate.

Think thoughts of clarity: mental, scientific.
Give time to thoughts of hope.
A plea never to be forgotton.
This creation,
this concoction
that destroys the lives of humans, comes from humans.
Clarity. Clarity of one part oxygen
two parts hydrogen
plus the chemistry of man.
Softest substance known to man and woman.
Harshest when the rain pours down, breaks down man.
Together,
it can be our greatest hope,
our greatest plague.

Pursuing the truth of the health matter

There is no possible way I can conclude the past two to three days. The days now run one into the other and it has been obscenely divine. It seems that each day has run into the other.
I have met NGO directors, city and state officials, trying to construct the picture of what goes on in the relationship between all of these actors, and how that plays out for the people.
Everyone seems to know what they think the problems are and what they want to see change. However, a lot of these goals do not coincide with the other.
My dilemma is as such: who has the best opinion on the matter? How do I decide what is best for a program when many different opinions within the same community and health work not decide on the most acute needs of the people? So many questions that I have time to answer. I'm so fortunate to make the contacts that I have.
In the past few days after visiting heads of NGOs (some called the best to work with from the government) have some of the most vague and detached strategies designed for the people. I dont know.. Maybe it's because they don't have to live in the communities they serve(?) SO many years of aid--I have to better understand their strategy. It's still not penetrating my mind...

In the past days I was able to look at the school situation as well and view how critical the need is for greater educational opportunities in general. Hundreds of students sit in front of a single teacher, listening intently. At least [?] these students are in a classroom. As I think I said before, 50% of the students have to attend their classes beneath a tree (pictured above). The hundreds of students sit silently and copy from the board--hopefully there is chalk. Hundreds. That adds up to thousands. And countrywide, millions.
And we thought education was lacking in America....sorry..there's no comparison. There is absolutely no comparing the situation. Nothing to compare one life in America to one life here. There is no comparing.
The kids are amazingly vivacious and beautiful. No really, the are flawlessly beautiful. A bias? I think not. (:

I finally visited the area in which I would be able to have my classroom. The people were amazing. I fudged through words and they all graciously smiled and welcomed my presence--with a faroff promise that I would return in a year from now, inshallah. So much potential exists for anyone here who wants to serve--as with many places--but truly, this is starting from nothing. I could not imagine a place with more opportunity to make a difference--such a vast difference by simply sharing the knowledge we have. Of course, it would help a ton if you spoke Portuguese. But, if you live in the U.S. and speak even an ounce of Spanish, you're a good portion of the way there. Any more skill, and you'll be fluent in 2 weeks ;)
After a two hour and some conversation with Pastor Joao last night at dinner, we concluded that technology will be our best friend in the process of bringing education to these people. Imagine what we could do with a projector, with a computer, with a printer, with a laminater, with an internet connection! The world is then Matola's! The whole world--at the fingertips of a rural living, twenty-something teacher in one of the poorest nations of the world. And, what? Dynamic education designated for the community. Plays. Community programs, designed, performed and produced by the community.
Okay, I'm not trying to write a 21st century manifesto and have a cultish way of saying--we must use the tools we can to make this world a better place, man. If not, what's the point? What is the point? What is the point? We can't take it with us. We're simply using it whilst we are here.
Alright, let's be honest, I'm writing this to be able to remind myself of all of this. Please please please don't read this and say, 'That Andreaperson is really practicing what she preaches'. I mean, we're human. Mistakes and humanness on the road of everything. Please, I just ask you, pick me up when I fall and when I doubt. I feel like this is reminiscent of Nina Simone "Misunderstood". Let's just hope, together, we can wring truth out of the words in our own lives.

Yeah, I don't know where this is going right now, but know that its been an incredibly eye opening time for me and phenomenally excellent for the research portion. I love Mozambique and God willing, I will return in under a year with a great plan to help the people. I have to be awake in 6hours...whoops.

I leave you with my doling of 15secs of celebrity--but only because they made me feel like a celebrity because they felt like one. Now they are! Celebs on your own screen. :) com amor

Overwhelm me with exactly what I asked for

It's been two days of work here in Mozambique and already I can write a novel--or at least a novella. Of course, I would be that foreigner who came in for 2 days and figured out how to 'Save Africa', and clearly, that is not at all my intention. So, I won't give you my remedies, but I will give you my thoughts and fact about the experience. Matola has become my playground for research and limitless misunderstanding.

It has been a crude awakening, confirming all of the nightmares I have read about. They are all true, but the reality, much worse. I realize I have been getting my news from foreign non-governmental organizations who report the poor situation in health and thought, whole heartedly, that they were reporting the truth of the situation. Maybe the words were not convincing enough, the numbers not striking enough--but why is it that the people in the West misinterpret the situation here? Why is it that we do not travel here to do it ourselves? Can we not leave our comforts? Is it that we do not know someone here? Do we not have the interest? Are we afraid? Do we not have the means? .. I digress.

The point was to report back on what I observe and to design a plan that will best benefit the people of Mozambique, the people of Matola. I can go on rants about caring about this and that for days, but the truth of the matter is that it simply is. Take it or leave it. I take.

Starting on Monday I met with the gracious Director of all Social Affairs of the city of Matola. Abel, the Director, oversees a range of affairs such as education, health, etc is the coordinator of all of the many parts that makes the city run. Abel, a very humble man, gave his time to us on his feriada (holiday, National Independence Day), to help me find the many hospitals around Matola and to give me his brilliant insights on how the city functions and what it is he does and oversees. He was the best source of primary education I could have asked for. For holistic information, this is the perfect sort of character you'd hope to meet when doing the type of research I am doing.

Some Matola background:

• Population: 600,000 - 620,000 (World Gazetteer projects 675,422 in 2007 and 701,999 for 2008 with a 3.93% growth rate)
  
• my question: who is right about these numbers--not that it helps...
  
• in comparison: Santa Fe is growing at a 1.5% annual rate, with a population of 144,000--and we seem to think it's growing too fast.
  
• 11 hospitals
• 6 full time doctors--FOR THE ENTIRE CITY.
  
• 61 primary schools (grade 1-7)
  
• 6 secondary schools (grade 7-12)
• Students attend schools in 3 different shifts. First wave comes in the morning until 1/3 of the day, the rest follow. There is no full day of school.
• around 45% of the students must attend school beneath a tree. There are not sufficient classrooms.
• The average teacher has around 700 students.
  
• (I have a TON more info like this to come...as soon as I get my copies back...)
  
• Divided into 3 parts to be governed by 3 different posts (like sub-mayors)
• There is still an underlying tribal system that empowers some chiefs per area. Kind of like a local person to speak on behalf of the people (and they get great gifts/privileges for shaking hands and being at functions--[ahem..sound familiar?]).
  
• 60% of the people live outside of the 'citified' part of the city. Meaning, they do not reap the benefits of the city-run water system.
  
• City water stops running at 11a-12p everyday. It starts back up again early in the morning around 5a.
  
• This goes for city buildings such as HOSPITALS, SCHOOLS, etc.
  
• the only way around this problem is to purchase a private water pump, muito caro (very expensive...)
• This does not include the 70% of people that have no running water, whatsoever.
  
• The average family size for 60% of the population is 10 or greater in one household
  
• This could be nieces, nephews, uncles, cousins, other peoples' children, single parents, etc.
  
• AIDS affects 26% of the population. That means 1 in 4 or more are infected with AIDS.
  
• this is only an average. It could be more in some places--which is more likely the case.
  
• The numbers of infected rise dramatically if it is a female around the age of 18-25 or a male around the age of 30-45.
  
• Get it? the males seduce the young girls and then infect them with HIV.
  
• There is no system of sanitation.
  
• Cholera is still a major problem in these areas--but only when it rains. Today, not so much a problem, thankfully.
  

This is where we scratched the surface about our conversation. He, Abel, had many of these numbers in his head. I started by asking him what he thought was the most acute health problems that Matola faces.

He numbered: 1) Maternal Health; 2) Malaria - based on the # of deaths and survivals; 3) AIDS - based on numbers and reactions to the virus and what needs to be done to continue to prevent it in the future; 4) Cholera - the prevention of future outbreaks.

Mind you, this is no health official. This is simply a man that oversees what is being done in many different departments. Even he had an idea of what needed to be done.

There are only 5 hospitals the give maternal health. If someone does not live near this hospital, and say, for instance, they live in the more rural area, they cannot reach a taxi, there is no means of calling an ambulance, they may not even know who to call if they are uneducated about the system. They are simply stranded. This is 70% of the city. This is the 70% of people that live too far from the limited amount of hospitals and are too poor to afford services or even a taxi ride into the area where help can be reached.

Line into one of the hospitals in Matola.

Here is a standard life story of someone in Matola.

I'm born. I probably have no money. If I was born at night, my mother may take me to the hospital the next day. I had no choice but be born in my house because I had no other means--or maybe the hospital was closed. It may have been too late to go. The taxi would have gotten me there, but it's at least 1.5 km away, and there's no way my mother could have walked there in her condition. A day later I get to the hospital and get all of my polio and other vaccinations. It's obligatory for my mother to go through family planning classes to learn how to care for me. Yet, often, there is no one to teach such things and my mother would be much too tired after giving birth to me to learn those things, even if she wanted to. Now she must care for me and we must pay the extreme prices for anything else that we might need.
If I'm lucky, I make it to the age of 5. At 5, I can attend school. Hopefully my family can afford to pay for my uniform. Actually, it's much harder, because my father past when I was 2 years old. It's okay, though, he had two other women on the side and my mother was not happy about that. He would abuse her and growing up, I would have to watch. But now, I am 5 and I will go to school. Money is tough because we do not often have enough to eat. The hunger tears at my belly, but I will go to school.
I arrive to school and I realize that there is no building. We sit next to the corner store, (the highest selling item is alcohol), and we study beneath a tree. I dream I am Buddha trying to reach nirvana, but I can't get my mind off of the hunger pains. It's hard to concentrate, but we are learning nothing at this time. My teacher has gone to help his child at home and we are simply sitting. I play and draw squares in the sand. This happens at least twice a week.
By grade 5 I must past my exams to remain in school. I pass and can remain, but 30% of my classmates must depart. Those that did not know there would be an exam never imagined that they would not pass--and now they either return to their homes, but most of them will have to find a job. This is common and probably to come for myself. Our lives are survival.
I pass through 7th grade, but am not satisfied with the newest school system. There are very few schools and 5 of the 6 schools available are private. There are fees we must pay to say in. Thank goodness the religious groups are here to provide. 90% of the schools are run by different religious denominations. I don't care which one it is, although I have attended a protestant church once in a while--but I just want to get in...
I make it to 10th grade and now have to provide for my mother. She is on her death bed from AIDS. We have no money and now I must care for my brothers and sisters. I must find a job or leave my family. I will go tomorrow to find work on the roads. I have heard there is an opening selling tomatoes at the local market. I will see if I can talk to my father's old friend for a favor.
I will survive. I have had malaria three times in my life and survived and the cholera that broke near our neighborhood did not affect us. We have seen our brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins pass, but we survive. I now live for my mother. I must find her food in order to see that she can take the drugs she needs to survive. We will survive.

Okay, okay. Poetic licence or whatever. But honestly, this is a standard situation. Probably worse in reality--but life has its good.

I wanted to focus on this project as a health focus. It makes it easier to write a paper, fill out an application to focus efforts on one thing. Let's say I decide I want to stop AIDS and educate about that. This is an easy focus to begin upon. Yet, we get confused about what our priorities are and what the root of the problem is. This is what I must better understand. This is what I must figure out.

We visited 5 different hospitals in the area. I, the foreigner, took pictures of the restrooms. I photographed the street children, abandoned by the poverty of their parents who could no longer care for them; (30,000 per year in the area).

Mozambican street children.

A Standard Mozambican Restroom. a hole in the ground. the children are fearful of such a device due to haunting stories of children falling in. this is the standard toilet facilities for doctors and patients alike.

We departed from the many stories that Director of Social Affairs, Abel had to tell and we decided we had enough for the day.

2 Tim. 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Arrival to Maputo - from here on out, everything is understated

I am. I am in Mozambique. I am high on Mozambique. These are not my words. I take them from the friends that I have already spoken with, elated to be in this place. It is worlds different from South Africa. This country is run by the African people. There are relatively no white people here, unless they are here on holiday. (:

I arrived and was picked up by an incredible Korean family that has relocated from their previous home of 14 years in Angola and are now living here in Mozambique to start up a new Presbyterian-esque church. Outside of the largest city in Mozambique, they are working in some of the poorest conditions in the world--trying to reach God's people and help their lives and aid their abject situations. This is the place we talk about when we make frivolous comments about 'starving people in Africa'. That guilt radiates from actual people.

I have been able to practice my broken Portuguese with Pastor Juan (pronounace Jou-ahn) and his adorable wife, Maria--(mind you these are all their Portuguese names. Their real names are Korean)--and their two children Juan and Paulos. Pastor Juan and the two sons manage well with their English. I continue to feel inadequate in my inability to speak another language. Thankfully, I'm picking it up fast....

To Mozambique! This city is craziness. 2 million people live in the city and another 8 million live on the outskirts. The people suffer from lack of access to the most common of goods. Food, water, health, sanitation--i can go on for days. And, we've only begun to talk about it. It's not that the government is not trying...there are just too many people. There is too much need and not enough help, not enough solutions to the problems. It's extremely frustrating, but the Pastor lets me know that there is definitely an opportunity to start from scratch and really get things done. He spoke of the present limitations the organizations that currently work here have to deal with day in and day out because of international restrictions and other governing that goes on with aid from outside of this country. Because they are only developing, they have to follow the rules of the people that donate their money.

*frustrated sigh*... where to begin... I feel that the best thing for now is to read the potential of what we have planned and see where we can go. There is so much potential here. The outside of the city needs more help than I could have imagined. The town we will be working in is around 600,000 citizens. There is one governing body that oversees all of that. Under him, it is broken up into thirds and is governed by another branch that takes care of 200,000 people. That is where the governing stops. That is the top, the rest is down. Explain to me how you can get anything done with 200,000 people that you work for?

This is not even scratching the surface. At least there's electricity here. In Angola, everyone lives off of generators (if you can afford one) and there is practically no running water. Here, at least there are good roads in the city (3 main ones) and the water only gets shut off at night. Thankfully, our the "rich" family I'm staying with owns their own water pump. Otherwise, goodbye to running water after 5p. Sigh sigh sigh.

There is no telling what I can predict for tomorrow. Pastor Juan spoke of the swollen bellies of families that cry from their hunger pains. I can't imagine.... I ate shrimp the size of jumbo hot dogs. We are 10mins away from the hunger pains. Here we are--there they are. The world is so small. What am I doing sitting here...?

I am quite encouraged by the need. I feel the purpose and am eager to talk to the people and see where we can begin. There is so much to be done from a billion and one angles... I'll take one..maybe two. For now, I hope I dream in Portuguese. (: